Cable



May 14, y1935. G, J. 'STANLEY' CABLE' Filed April 28, 1932 Patented May 1.4, 193s 2,001,319

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CABLE George J. Stanley, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh', Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 28, 1932, Serial No. 608,038

' sclaims. (Cl. 17a- 13) The invention relates to protective sheathing ing to a multistrand steel cable is disclosed. The for wire or cable, ilnding particular application cable is built up ot a plurality of layers of splrally in preventing corrosion of steel cable such as wound strands, the Successive layers being indisteel messenger cable or the steel-reinforcing cated by the reference numerals I, 2 and 3. In

5 strands of conductor. cable I the form of cable which I have chosen for pur- 5 It 1B en Object of my invention to provide a poses of illustration the concentric system of composite cable characterized by high tensile strandng is shown. The successive `layers are strength together with good electrical cohducspiralled in opposite directions, as is clearly tivity and high corrosion resistance. Another ShOWn in Fig. 1. Over the Outer layer 0f 'Strands object istoprovldeacable withaprotective conand covering all exposed surfaces of the steel 10 ducting sheathing which is light in weight, re1ecable there is applied a coating I of bitumastic tively thin. and which can be quickly and easily cement, asphalt, or other suitable plastic ceapplied. mentitious material possessed of the requisite It is a. well-known fact that messenger came corrosion-resistant and adhesive properties. This and ground wires tor overhead transmission lines, coating may be painted on the cable 0r applied 15 being subjected in use to the weathering action in any convenient manner. but is preferably of the elements, become corroded and astime goes applied in. Such e wey the-t it Will ll the inter'- on become weakened endless suited to the purstices between the strands as indicated at 5 in poses they are intended to serve. What attempts Fig. 2-

have been made to correct this condition by pro- A Strip 0f i011 5, Preferably aluminum fOii. iS 20 tecting the wire or cable against corrosion have splrally wound over the coated cable so as to not been attended with any appreciable degree form a continuous unbroken foil sheath. I preof success. The practical fendre of these atfer t0 use for this purpose aluminum foil. altempts may be ascribed to various causes, but though if desired, tin foil or other corrosion-re- 26 it is believed to be chieily due to one or both of Sistemi? fOii may be emDlOyed 25 two things; namely, failure to provide a protec- The term i0 aS used throughout thiS'SDeC- tive sheathing which is really effective in service ilcation, and in the claims, is employed in its or the failure to devise a sheathing which is easy ordinary commercial sense as referring to very to apply and which could be provided at a sumthin sheet metal having a, maximum thickness 30 ciently low cost to nd general application, of about 0.006 of an inch. Metal of this thick- 30 It is, therefore, a participar object ef my inness is pliable enough to conform to surface irvention to provide a cable having a protective regularities of the cable or ol.' the adhesive coatsheathing which overcomes the aforementioned lug and form e 010Sely adhering Sheath. dimculties and which in addition possesses many When the foil is wrapped around a cable in' advantages which ere not tc be obtained in the such a way that successive turns of the foil are 35 cable structures heretofore known or used. arranged to lie in overlapping relationship, as

A Speciilc object of my invention is to provide indicated in Fig. l, there is very little if any opa cable comprising a steel core of high tensile portunity for moisture topenetrate the sheathing strength, protected by a thin corrosion-resistant so formed. It will, of course, be understood that 40 conducting sheathing of metallic foil. Further the adhesive employed muy be extended between 40 objects and advantages will appear ln connecthe overlapped portions of the foil il! so desired. tion with the description of the drawing, in I prefer to lap the foil for a distance approxiwhich; mately equal to one-half of the width of the Fig. ils a view of a section of cable embodying strip so that, in effect, a continuous double my invention, illustrating the method of applysheathing of foil will result, as shown in Fig. 2. 45 ing a protective sheathing thereto; A particular feature ot this construction is that Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the lines the thin metallic foil, being soft and pliable, read- II-II of Fig. l: c ily adapts itself to the surface irregularities and Fig. 3 is a similar transverse section through a results ln a smooth surface which is not apmodiiled form o! cable embodying the invention; preciably broken at the point of overlap. It has 50 and been proposedheretofore to apply a spiral wind- Fig. 4 is a transverse section through a cable Ilng of relatively non-corrosive metal over a steel illustrating a further embodiment. core, the strip being preformed so that its for- In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 and ward edge is odset inwardly from the rearward 2, the application of a thin metallic foil sheathedge, which is applied in such a manner that the 55 inforcing steel wire 8.

covering is composed of two layers of strips throughout its length. There are two principal disadvantages to such a construction. In the rst place itis necessary that the relatively heavy strips be preformed; that is, subjected to a forming operation prior to application to the cable. Secondly, the successive turns of the strip, being unsecured to each other and unsecured to the core as is necessary to permit free flexing of the cable, it is impossible to utilize a. corrosion-resistant undercoating such as the adhesive 4 of the present invention.

It may be desired to provide the steel strands of the cable with a zinc coating, as by means of the usual galvanizing operation, but this is not believed to be essential to the realization of the benefits conferred by my invention.

In Fig. 3 there is shown a modied form of the invention in which the composite sheathing of adhesive material and metallic foil is applied between the strands of a composite cable consisting of a layer of conductor wires 1 and a central re- This steel core wire 8, which may be. galvanized if desired, is provided with a corrosion-resistant adhesive coating 9 over which is spirally wound metallic foil II) which is preferably formed of the same metal as the conductor wires l.

Thus, in the case of steel-reinforced aluminum cable, aluminum foil would be used, effectively preventing electrolytic action between the foil and the conductor strands. Because moisture cannot readily penetrate the protective sheathing, electrolytic action is also prevented between the foil sheathing and the steel core. It will be readily apparent that the protective sheathing 9, I can be applied over the exterior of the conductor strands 'l instead of, or as well as, between the conductor strands 1 and the core 8.

The further embodiment shown in Fig. 4 is intended to illustrate the application of my invention to steel-reinforced aluminum cable in which the core consists of a plurality of steel strands of wire II. The bitumastic cement or other adhesive I2 is applied over the surface of the core, filling the interstices between the strands. The double layer of aluminum foil I3 formed by the overlapping spiral winding disclosed in Fig. l has been slightly depressed between the adjacent strands Il of the core, as indicated at I4. The adaptability of the pliable aluminum foil to the irregularities of the surface of the core when the interstices are only partially lled with the adhesive results in an economy in adhesive and decreases the weight of the cable so formed. The importance of this may be readily understood when it is considered that steelreinforced aluminum cable is used for transmission lines having relatively few points of support and very long span lengths, where even a very small saving in weight per lineal foot may amount to a very considerable saving in gross weight. Furthermore, the pliable nature of the foil insures better adhesion and )ess possibility for the penetration of moisture or other corrosive agents.

While I have described my invention chiefly in connection with its application to steel messenger cable or ground wires and to steel-reinforced aluminum cable, it will be understood that these embodiments have been selected solely for the purpose of illustration and that other embodiments may be found which fall within the purview' of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, it would find application to reinforced copper cables. A steel core, whether galvanized or not, is not satisfactory if directly in contact with copper strands. If the core is galvanized, the zinc coating is rapidly destroyed by electrolytic action. It has therefore been necessary heretofore to employ either copperweld wires, or bronze, in place of steel. By the use of my invention, however, it is possible to use steel reinforcing wires for copper cable, with a protective sheathing of bitumastic cement or other adhesive and copper foil applied over the steel core of the cable.

The foil sheathing, being itself a good conductor of electricity, contributes to the effectiveness of the cable when used as an electrical conductor.

While in describing my invention I have in the interest of clarity employed specific language, I have no intention in the use of such language of excluding any equivalents or minor variations of the invention set forth.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a cable comprising a steel core covered with a spirally wound strip of aluminum foil adhesively secured to said steel core, and a plurality of aluminum conductors overlying the aluminum foil winding.

2.A As an article of manufacture, a cable comprising a steel core and a protective sheathing consisting of an adhesive which is impervious to moisture, and aluminum foil, said steel core consisting of a plurality'of strands of wire the interstices of which are partially filled with said adhesive, said aluminum foil overlying the Wire strands of the core and conforming with the irregularities of said partially filled interstices.

3. As an article of manufacture, a cable comprising a steel core and a protective sheathing consisting of an adhesive which is impervious to moisture, andmetallic foil, said steel core consisting of a plurality of strands of wire the interstices of which are partially tllled with said adhesive, said metallic foil overlying the wire strands of the core and conforming with the irregularities of said partially filled interstices, 

